What Happens In Paris
by Gunney
Summary: A little thought of what the boys might do in Paris


A small pink wet drop splattered on the pavement. It was followed by  
another and soon formed a puddle. It was quite obvious on the aged  
sidewalk, but it was not the focus of attention. Quite the contrary, the  
focus of attention was on the monument the sidewalk surrounded.  
Or more the mini-van that teetered on the metal edge of the walkway  
surrounding the upper levels of the Eiffel Tower, its strawberry-ice-  
cream covered wheels making the tenacious grip even more faulty.  
The three occupants held themselves still inside the vehicle. Two in the  
back seat and one, clinging to the steering wheel, trying to at the same  
time to pull weapons and seat belts from their persons.  
"This is bad, Ez."  
A strawberry covered ATF agent rolled his eyes from the back of the  
vehicle and nodded slightly. "You have just figured this out, Mr.  
Tanner?" "No. I mean it's bad cause-"  
The third sticky blob spoke. "What Vin? You hurt?"  
Vin shook his head at Nathan, the melting ice cream that coated his body  
splattered slightly with the movement, his hands gripping the steering  
wheel for dear life. "I'm scared of heights."  
The other two in the vehicle groaned and continued to wipe wet and sticky  
sludge from themselves and the various guns they carried. Ezra kept his  
eye on the window beside him, listening for the return of the helicopter,  
since he couldn't see the vehicle that had plagued them ever sense they  
had landed on the monument.  
"What . . . what are we gonna do? I mean I can't go out there. I'll . . .  
fall and smash up against the pavement. And then what are ya gonna do.  
I'll be in peices, just waitin' to be scrapped together and shoved in a  
tiny box. Won't need but a shoebox to hold me in. I can't fall. I don't  
like falling. I never even bungee-jumped before. I can barely stand  
roller coasters. This is bad. Oh this is really bad."  
Ezra glared at the ranting sharpshooter, wishing the man wasn't under the  
heavy influence of truth serum. He knew for a fact that Vin Tanner  
couldn't possibly be afraid of hieghts. How could you have an ace  
sharpshooter who was afraid of hieghts?  
"Mister Tanner. Concentrate on staying still."  
Ezra glanced at Nathan and nodded, signaling that he was ready for  
whatever move Nathan deemed wise. Nathan took a deep breath and slowly  
sat forward, climbing into the empty front passenger seat cautiously. The  
van teetered, metal creaked and groaned, but the vehicle remained.  
"The underbelly probably got ground into the walkway," he said quietly,  
hopefully as he settled into the cushioned seat, making sure the van was  
steady.  
The comment did little to reassure. Vin continued to mumble and Ezra  
rolled his eyes, waiting.  
Nathan took another careful breath and slowly opened his door, barely  
clearing the surface of the metal promenade. Again the tower protested  
and the sound of the wind whipping by struck a new fear in Tanner.  
Adding more faith to his fearful blabbering.  
Nathan waited for a second longer, making sure the mini-van was in good  
spirits about all this, then stepped into the windy but sunny afternoon  
air in Paris. As soon as his feet were solidly planted on the sturdy  
metal he reached in for Vin.  
"No . . . Nathan. I'll just wait here. It'll be ok in here. Just gotta  
wait."  
Nathan rolled his eyes and insisted, grabbing hold of Vin's coat collar  
for emphasis. "If you don't get out here now your gonna look like a shirt-  
waist-fire-victim. Now come on. I got ya."  
Ezra added to the persuasive tactic, leaning forward to pry Vin's fingers  
from the wheel. The van croaked in protest, dropped down a good foot and  
he stopped his movements quickly. "We have to remove ourselves from this  
vehicle post haste or they won't be an us, Vin."  
With the confused look he got, Ezra decided that verbal persuasion would  
not diffuse the situation, much less improve it. He attacked Vin's hands  
again, wrenching him bodily from the driver's seat and shoving his  
shoulders and upper body towards the open door. Nathan latched onto Vin's  
frantic hands as a terrifying screech of dying metal announced the van  
was finally giving in to gravity. Vin shot through the open door as the  
vehicle hurtled to the ground behind him.  
The end of the walkway opposite Vin and Nathan started unraveling from  
the side of the Tower, pulled down by the vehicle's weight and rapid  
decent. Nathan let out a strangled cry as the vehicle drew nearer to the  
unforgiving earth, at the same time dragging Tanner farther from the  
edge.  
Seconds later and barely ten feet from the ground the van came to an  
abrupt and bone jarring halt as the make shift life line refused to  
separate itself from either the tower or the van. The vehicle bounced  
slightly, metal groaning, swaying back and forth slightly.  
Seconds later Ezra tumbled from the side door to the ground, holding his  
head and curling up into a tight ball. The shocked crowd stayed back,  
watching the man uncurl and crawl slowly away from the vehicle.  
Three hundred feet above Nathan watched in shock. The man had once again  
managed to cheat death. He shook his head in wonder, the sound of  
applause and cheering echoing up from below.  
Slowly he pulled Tanner to his feet and directed the bewildered man's  
attention to the crowd below them. The blonde man smiled broadly, swaying  
slightly in Nathan grasp.  
Ezra stood slowly and glanced up at the two figures far above him. Waving  
weakly that he was OK. With a final, sad, sagging groan the tower let go  
of its burdened walk way and the van smashed back end first into the  
pavement.  
+ + + + + + +  
"YOU WHAT!?"  
He put his hands up quickly both to quiet the man and to reassure him  
that it really wasn't that big of a deal. "The vehicle is not your  
liability and the French Ambassador stated that they had been looking for  
a reason to replace that particular section of walkway anyway. It's  
perfectly all right."  
Chris stared at him blankly. "All right. ALL RIGHT? How can you say it's  
all right? You disobeyed direct orders, completely disappeared from face  
of the Earth without so much as a phone call. Ruined six, did I mention,  
six pieces of expensive armory that belong to the United States Army.  
Downed a helicopter and made a permanent dent in a thousand-year-old  
landmark. What in the hell do you think is 'all right' about this?"  
"We didn't blow up the helo."  
Chris glared at Vin who had taken up sudden residence behind Ezra.  
"What?"  
"We didn't blow up the helo. Carnige did."  
Ezra nodded to the statement and Nathan rolled his eyes, but acknowledged  
that it was indeed true. Chris looked at the EMT for explanation. "You  
didn't have a problem with any of this?"  
Nathan sighed. "I was just trying to keep these two idiots alive."  
Both Vin and Ezra stepped away, taken aback, insisting they were not the  
idiots at all. Chris glared them into silence.  
"I want you to finish your reports, IN DETAIL, by Friday. Then we're  
going to go over them until I have every fact straight and can understand  
how in God's name you justified this."  
He turned sharply and slammed his office door shut.  
Vin smirked. "I think he's jealous."  
Ezra raised an eyebrow. "How?"  
"He didn't get to go to Paris too."  
The End 


End file.
